In today's society, children have much more information at their disposal than at any time in history. Literally at the the click of a mouse, they can become a scholar in any subject they choose, any video game they play, or even the latest dance on the scene. At the same time, technology has also made them lazy because so much is available to them at their fingertips.
Do you remember when you were little and your parents made you go to play saying, "Don't come back in this house until the sun goes down!" This allowed us to socialize, run, sweat (stay in shape), try new things, dream with friends, explore nature, as well as taking a magnifying glass to burn ants! Okay... don't act like you didn't do mischievous things like that. The point is youth were so much more active and more sociable back then. Now they are usually found in their room on social networks, playing video games, or doing things that don't require them to stretch their natural ability to survive out here in this ever changing world. Grant it, it's not all on them. We as parents have become more busy with work. Some of us work 2 or 3 jobs or are so tired when we get home that the idea of having a social life is unreachable. For some parents it seems as though the kids have been placed in a time where they have to take care of themselves because we can't figure out how to juggle all these pieces of life. Do we really want that? Do we really want the streets to show our kids the way of life, the videos on t.v., reality shows (a joke), and video games that are getting to be so violent that they must be labeled with letters like "M" for mature... SERIOUSLY!
We must engage with our youth like never before because they need us like never before!I was talking with my daughter the other day and expressed that your generation is even smarter than we were. We discussed that her generation has smart phones where we had pagers to communicate with. We had phone books, you have the internet with a search engine that searches out anything you are looking for with a click of the mouse. We had tapes and CD's, you have mp3s, iPods, and streaming audio and video. Yes! Technology has brought you to a different level but on the other hand, technology has also desensitized some of the natural response times in behavior.
Here's The Challenge
I challenge you, business owners and business seekers, to put a plan of action together and reach out to the youth in your community. Share with them the skills that you've acquired. It's not important that they do exactly what you do. What is important is that you value our youth and the world we live in to engage with them to learn from your skills and gifts to gain experience at an early age. Teach them about business instead of buying them a game. Don't you realize you can have a dynasty of young leaders helping you to grow your business? Intern them or help them pay their way through college! The reason why I am so passionate about this...I am a doer of this challenge.Youth Vision
As we speak, I am formulating a youth vision program for ages 18-25 teaching them survival skills, through business concepts, needed to navigate the environment we live in. This program is not your typical etiquette on dressing for a job interview. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with that. I want to focus on the fundamental of personalizing communication in business as well as building relationships in their careers. Click here for more information on Youth Vision.
Join me on Wednesday as I continue on with this thought-provoking post...
